Brooks, Porter lead Oregon over Winthrop

Brooks scored 14 of his 22 points in the first half and Porter
tallied 11 of his 14 in the second half as third-seeded Oregon
posted a 75-61 victory over the 11th-seeded Eagles in the second
round of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Region.

The Ducks (28-7) will face seventh-seeded Nevada-Las Vegas -
which upset second-seeded Wisconsin - in the regional semifinals
at St. Louis on Friday.

Oregon last appeared in the "Sweet 16" in 2002 under coach Ernie
Kent.

"We're going to see the arches and it's not the McDonald's
arches," Kent said. "I can't be more proud of my team."

The Ducks made 11-of-23 3-pointers while Winthrop struggled from
the arc, converting just 8-of-31. The Eagles missed 16
consecutive 3-point attempts from the 12-minute mark of the
first half until Chris Gaynor made one with 7:38 left in the
game. By then, Oregon had a 59-48 lead.

Brooks made three of his five 3-pointers in the first half when
Oregon built a 33-27 advantage.

DeAndre Adams stole the ball from Porter and closed the half
with a basket to pull Winthrop within four.

But it was Porter, the smallest player on the court at 5-6, who
enabled the Ducks to pull away. The freshman connected on three
shots from the arc and a jumper in the lane in the first 4:01
of the second half.

"When Tajuan shoots, he starts shaking," Brooks said. "We knew
somewhere along the way he would give us a big push and he did.
And we really needed it after halftime."

A dunk by Maarty Leunen with 15:25 left increased the advantage
to 48-35.

Oregon led by as many as 19 points down the stretch.

"I had some looks and took them," Porter said. "They were
leaning towards covering Aaron after the first half he had
and that left me open to take some shots in the second half."

Winthrop (29-5) won its first NCAA Tournament game in school
history Friday, beating sixth-seeded Notre Dame, 74-64. But
the Eagles could not handle Brooks and Porter, who combined to
make 9-of-17 shots from the arc.

Torrell Martin led Winthrop, which had won 19 in a row, with 15
points and 12 rebounds but made just 6-of-18 shots, including
2-of-11 from 3-point range.

The Eagles lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament six
times in the previous eight years under coach Gregg Marshall
before ending the frustration on Friday. Their four
regular-season losses this season came against powers North
Carolina, Maryland, Wisconsin and Michigan State. Oregon added
its name to the list on Sunday.

"When the magic carpet ride comes to an end, it ends rather
abruptly," Marshall said. "It's not an easy thing to accept.
The hype our school generated this season was unbelievable, but
we wanted a little bit more."

Malik Hairston scored 13 points and Leunen finished with 12 for
the Ducks.

Hairston and Leunen did a solid defensive job on Winthrop center
Craig Bradshaw, who was held to 10 points, four below his
season average. Winthrop shot just 39 percent (24-of-61).

"It was frustrating for me out there," Bradshaw said. "It's
tough when you only get six shots."

"We're a defensive team," Hairston said. "That's what got us
this far."